Skilight
by mutated-ducks-rule
Summary: Marlene has been transferred to the Central Park Zoo where she has the time of her life! The weird part? Meeting the supernatural penguin team and werewolf lemurs. By me and EppogirlXD! Please review!  Oh, and we don't own anything! :
1. Chapter 1

I sighed in the darkness of the small, wooden crate. A sudden jerk from the truck made me bang my head on the side of the crate. I groaned in annoyance, but remembered my promise and sighed again. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea, but I knew I had to, and I wasn't backing out now.

It had been 'The Day'. My goodbye party had looked more like a funeral in my old home, the otter habitat in the California Aquarium. My wooden crate had been waiting for me at the side of the habitat, and I had been staring into it.

"Are you sure?" My mother, Helen, who was standing right beside me, had sniffed. "You know you don't have to. Me or one of the other otters could always pretend to be you, and go in the crate instead !"

"I'm sure." I had said firmly. "Anyways, it's not like you could go in instead of me. You have all the pups to take care of!"

Helen had then turned around and looked in my eyes that could turn into green or brown at the right moments. "Okay. Then promise me that you will take care of yourself–"

"I promise!" I had immediately replied. "Besides, Dad will be there! With him around, I might not be so clumsy all the time!" We both laughed. It was true. I was very accident-prone.

"And," My mother went on. "I want you to have the best, most funnest experience of your life!"

"No problem," I had replied, eyes shining.

And then, with one final goodbye to all the other sad otters, I had stepped (more like stumbled) in the crate, and left sunny California behind for New York City.

I started crying from homesickness again. It was unfair. The zoo peeps of the world thought that there were too many otters in the California aquarium, so they had decided to transfer a few out of there to other zoos. Some of my cousins had already been transferred elsewhere, but I was the only one who was moving to New York–the farthest from home sweet home.

Suddenly, the truck lurched to a stop. This was the hardest jerk, and it made my crate fly forward and bang against the truck wall, my luggage tumbling all around and even on top of me. I winced and gasped in pain. Wondering how many bruises I had received, I glanced down. One here, another here, _ow_ that place hurt too…this had to be the worst transportation vehicle I had ever been on. I would sue if I were a human. But since I wasn't, maybe I would just settle for a lash out at the truck driver once he opened my crate.

I heard some human voices outside yelling and giving orders to each other. Soon my crate was being lifted. Finally. I got up in a crouching position, tensed and readied myself to attack my careless driver. My box was put down on something, and I heard what I thought were crowbars yanking at the side of my crate. _Here we go_…

A side of my crate burst open, and I immediately sprang out under the dark gray sky, eager for some human skin to latch onto.

But there was nothing.

Instead, I dropped through the air and splashed in…_water_? Shocked, surprised and totally immersed, I thrashed about till I reached the surface and gasped for air, completely drenched. I shrieked in a totally non-otter way and jumped out onto a soft carpet of grass. _Oh it was on!_

But as I looked around, I couldn't spot any humans to attack. Instead, I just saw the pond I had fell in, my crate, nice grass stretching out in all directions, a stone slide, bushes, the entrance to a cave, and brick walls towering over at the side of the habitat. MY DAD'S habitat? This place looked awesome! Bright and colorful and everything!

I walked about, until all thoughts of revenge on humans and being drenched were totally forgotten (I was never one to hold a grudge, anyways).

"Marlene?"

I gasped and spun around to a dark-brown otter. "Hey, Dad!" I greeted Robert, running over (and stumbling a bit) to hug him at the entrance of the cave.

After a quick embrace, he stepped back to glance at me. "Whoa, you sure have gotten bigger! Not to mention more beautiful." He remarked.

I blushed. "It's been a while."

"It sure has! The last time I saw you, I was getting ready to transfer to this old place! Three years can sure change people you know," he replied.

"I brought some stuff."

"Great! Let's go get them."

With that, we went back to my crate and peeked in. I had brought my Spanish guitar (I love Spanish guitars!), a sack of oysters (a good-bye present from Helen), an art kit (I love art!), and a first-aid kit (for obvious reasons).

My dad helped me bring it all into the cave, which I would now share with him. We put it all in one organized pile, talking all the way, and me almost dropping my guitar before he reached out to help me with it.

Then Robert decided to give me a tour of the zoo, but after looking at the gray sky that had grown darker, he decided against it. "It's always been raining or cloudy like this for a long while," he said sadly. "How about I give you the tour tomorrow, okay, honey? It's definitely going to rain. Hard."

I agreed, and went to sleep that night on my new concrete bed. Somehow knowing that this new twist in my life was going to be awesome and terrible at the same time, with many exciting adventures waiting for me... raining or not.


	2. Chapter 2

A light green meadow, covered by thousands of pure white daises. Fluffy, cotton candy clouds whisked across the sky. This place was beautiful. The only problem was that I had no idea where I could possibly be.

"Hello?" I called out. The only response I heard was a sigh. A long and aggravated one too.

I slowly turned around. There, a lone figure was standing ten feet away from me. "Can I help you?" I asked, not quite sure how to handle this situation.

The figure shook his head and started to slowly retreat. Before completely vanishing into the forest (I somehow failed to see that), he gave me one last glance and opened his mouth.

"Marlene?"

I started gaping. This figure, a creature I couldn't even properly see, _knew my name?_

"Marlene?" came the oddly familiar voice.

"What do you want?" I yelled, feeling flustered.

Almost on cue, my surroundings turned into a concrete bed. Well that would explain it! The figure, the place, all a dream. A really weird dream.

"Are you okay, Marlene?" my dad asked. He had a weird expression on his face and was nervously twittering with his fingers.

"Dandy." I replied, sitting up in my new concrete bed. "Why do you ask?"

"You were snoring... really loud actually." he answered.

"Oh... how about we pretend you didn't hear it and take that tour you promised me."

Robert's eyes instantly brightened. "I'll take you up on that deal!"

He quickly bounded outside, leaving me to follow.

Dad was fast, I'll give him that, but I was faster! Once we had reached the edge of the clean, fresh grass, I launched myself into the pond. While scrambling to remain upright, I swiftly kicked my hind paws to gain momentum. Looked like the momentum had gained me some time, for I had _barely _gotten out of the water before Dad.

"Looks like I beat you, Dad!" I announced happily.

"Out of plain luck!" Robert scoffed.. his eyes twinkling.

Giggling to myself, we both walked along the pattern tiles that were hexagonal shaped. The sky was still gray again, like it was about to rain. I had a great time chatting with my dad. As I told him all about Helen and company, we strolled (and I tripped) on the zoo walk paths. I was having such a great time, I didn't even notice that we had suddenly stopped in front of a habitat until Robert pulled me back by the tail. "Wait," he said. "Before we go on, I'd like you to meet someone."

"Alright, who?" I asked, curious.

"You'll have to go and see." he replied, raising an eyebrow.

Smiling, I jumped over the brick wall after him. The entire place was filled with huge, green leaves and a lot of grassy grounds. '_What is this place?' _I mouthed to my dad. My only response was a mild chuckle.

Before I could ask what on Earth the chuckle was for, a large shadow fell upon us. "Robert!" called a voice.

It was a deep voice, apparently belonging to a dark gray furred animal with a striped black and white tail. A lemur? We obviously didn't have those in my old aquarium, but I've heard about them.

My dad and the immense lemur gave each other what I like to call 'the Man- hug'. "Who's this?" the lemur asked in a heavy Madagascar accent.

"Marlene." my father replied. His already swelled out chest seemed to lift even more.

"Hi," I said, awkwardly. Okay, maybe I was a _little _afraid of the guy. I mean, come on! Whoever heard of a yellow-eyed creature?

"Name's Danny," the lemur greeted. "And I've heard so much about you!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Sure! When _isn't _there a time your dad talked about you?" he replied.

So Dad had talked about me, huh? Well dang. There goes my reputation.

"Er, would you guys like to come in and meet the rest of the gang?" Danny said, gesturing towards a platform.

"We would love to!" Robert answered.

_'Rest of the gang?'_ I thought. But of course nobody ever listens to my thoughts (not like they can though) so we found our way to a bamboo ladder leading up to a concrete platform.

"Need a paw?" someone asked. Looking up, I realized it was a lemur. "Name's Julien ," he said.

"Okay." I reached up to take his paw but he pulled it away just as I was about to grasp it. "Hey!" He just laughed.

Robert and Danny came in between us. "Marlene, this is Julien. Julien, this is Marlene." Danny explained.

"Pleased to meet you," I told him sarcastically. Julien gives a small grin and finally lent me his paw to shake, which he did–in a way that made my arm jiggle and my bones rattle when he pulled my arm up and down.

"Don't forget me!" a child-like voice interrupted. Glancing over in the direction I heard it, I realized that the shout had come from a small mouse-lemur.

"Aww! You are simply adorable!" I cried, my arms reaching out to hug him.

"Don't do that!" Julian shouted, standing in front of me. "He has rabies!"

"That's ridiculous-"

"Oh, is it?"

I rolled my eyes as a lemur (an aye-aye by the looks of it) came into our conversation. "Rabies?" he questioned. "Since when has Mort _ever _gotten rabies?"

"Well, there was that one time that he started foaming at the mouth-"

"The same time you fed him an ice cream sundae... with extra whipped cream?"

"No! Besides, it was shaving cream, not whipped cream!"

"Is that healthy?" I cut in.

"Why should I care?" Julian retorted.

"Because-"

"Can we just get on with the rest of the tour... PLEASE!" my dad asked.

Julien stuck his tongue at Maurice and motioned for Mort to come with him–but not to get to close. While Robert and the two other lemurs walked in front, Maurice and I trailed behind. "Shaving cream?" I asked, laughing a bit at the idea. Though it seemed pretty ordinary for Julien to do that, seeing from his first impression to me.

"Yeah, you should have seen some of the other times," Maurice said. "Jello-filled toilet water, replacing the first aid-kit with 'Operation', and hiding toilet paper in the most random places you can think of."

"Sounds like an interesting neighbor to me," I replied.

"You keep on thinking that..." he trailed off.

We soon stop at a building. _'The Zoovenir Shop' _the sign above it read.

We strolled right in. A wave of cool air hit us, resulting in a large, group sigh of relief.

On the inside, rows and rows of stuffed animals surrounded us. The lifeless, dull eyes staring into yours. Okay, it's probably just me, but dolls? Yeah, they're going to take over the world.

"This is the zoovenir shop," Robert announced.

"Don't you mean _souvenir_ shop?" I corrected. I remembered a souvenir shop back at the aquarium.

"Nope, he means zoovenir," Danny said. "Humans like to be rhymey."

"This is where zoo meetings take place." Robert continued. "And you can find many things to take for your own personal use back in your habitat."

Then we continued on the tour, past the office, bathrooms, animal clinic, tables and fountain. The sky stayed gray all day. It was an hour later when we started to actually go visit the animals themselves in the main zoo, reptile house, and children's zoo. Finally.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is the monkey habitat," Danny announced, waving around. I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Actually, we're _chimpanzees_, not monkeys," a chimp with a British-like accent said. He was picking up a banana peel that the other chimp had thrown on the ground. "You see, we don't have tails."

"Whateva," Julien rolled his big yellow eyes. "A monkey's a monkey, tail or no tail!" Then he doubled over laughing with Mort, who had a REALLY high-pitched squeal.

The other chimp scowled and signed something in what I assumed was sign language. He caught my interest.

"What did he just sign? Why doesn't he just talk?" I asked the British-sounding chimp.

"Phil, here, doesn't talk. And, uh, you don't want to know what he just signed." Mason said.

I looked over at Julien, who was still laughing, and decided that Mason was right.

The sky was still gray.

In the next habitat was this ginormous creature. I just gawked and gawked. "This is Burt. Burt, this is Marlene." Dad said.

"Hi!" Burt greeted.

I kept on staring. I have never seen an animal so big! Well, actually, I had seen some bigger whales back at the aquarium, but still, Burt looked so different!

To avoid looking like a jerk, I shook paws with his trunk. After Julien stole some peanuts from him without him noticing (leaving Danny to tell him to give them back), we went on to the next habitat.

Next was the kangaroo habitat, where I had a speedy greeting with Joey, the inhabitant, and then we got out of there quickly before he could kick us out.

The sky was _still_ gray. It looked like not a sad cloud was moving.

Then we traveled from there to the rhino habitat, and then the polar bar one, then the spider monkeys, then alligator, then ostrich, then a habitat FULL of all these flamingos who all completely freaked me out when they flocked over to say hi.

All this may sound like a lot, but really, the zoo was quite small. The habitats didn't have much space. After we went through the reptile house and childrens' zoo, I was all tired out. Yes, the zoo was small, but the tour was LONG. Especially when Roger, the alligator, had to go and tell us his looooooooong story about the dream of being a singer and actor he had and wanted to follow.

"Is that all?" I asked in a voice that I hoped did not sound snobby or anything.

"Nope! Two more habitats!" Robert said. "Next is the koala one!"

"Ooh! Koalas!" I said. Actually, I did not know much about them aside from the fact that they were fuzzy and cute!

"His name is Leonard." Danny said as we hopped into the habitat. "Koalas sleep in the day and wake at night, so he's not awake right now."

"Oh rilly?" Shouted Julien. "Maybe he's just pretending with us and is actually awake with his eyes closed all the while thinking how stupid you guys are to think that he is sleeping!" He hopped on the tree brunch Leonard was on. "Come on, Leo! You can stop faking now!"

Then he kicked Leonard's behind. Well, apparently he kicked too hard because the next thing everybody knew, Leonard was tumbling down to the hard ground.

"No!" Everybody but Julian cried out.

It was too late. Leonard slammed into the ground and jolted awake. "WHA–?"

Everyone ran over to help him up. "Don't touch me!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe you woke me up! At least you're not the penguins…"

"Penguins?" I asked. Was that the next habitat?

"Yes, penguins," Leonard said mysteriously, brushing himself off. "They are bad. And weird. You do not want to meet them. Not ever!"

"Oh, come on–" Danny started.

But Julien interrupted him. "Oh yes! You don't want to know them! They must be banned! Especially that flat-headed one!"

These two animals were crazy. They didn't honestly mean that, right? No animal could have been worse than Joey. "Are you sure?" I asked the koala.

"Ye–" He suddenly fell to the floor again. This time, sleep had struck him.

"Let's go there now," Robert suggested.

"Oh, no no no no no!" said Julien.

"Great, where is it?" I asked, ignoring Julien.

"It's at the very center of the zoo," said Danny.

Very center? Wow. How had I not noticed it before?

We walked to the habitat in the middle of the zoo and jumped across the fence and water inside the habitat to land on this white platform-like thingy.

"So. Where are the penguins?"

I think that that was the millionth question I had all day. But I really did not see any penguins.

"They are probably in their stupid HQ." Julien rolled his eyes, pushed aside a fishbowl I had failed to notice, and hopped in the hole it had covered before anybody could do anything.

"HQ?"

Millionth and first question.

My dad smiled. "Just come on in." Then he and the rest of the lemurs hopped into the hole.

Puzzled, I jumped in after them. Inside, I could here an argument occurring. Julien's voice and a different one. Extremely curious now, I climbed down a metal ladder into a gray room that looked nothing like a penguin's living environment, or even a different habitat for that matter. It looked impressive.

And then I saw them.

All four penguins.

Everybody turned to look at me when they heard my jaw drop to the ground. I stared at the birds more than I stared at the elephant because, dang, these animals were, well... _gorgeous!_

"Speak up, doll face," ordered one penguin who obviously had pure authority. He even had a flat head, just like Julien had described. "What, do I have a coffee stain or something?" he asked.

I could not speak. His voice was awesome. My mind was lost in the gray clouds outside.

All the guys were looking at me. I suddenly wondered how it was weird that I was practically the only girl in the zoo. But then that thought also vanished into the clouds.

"You guys, this is Marlene. Marlene, this is–" Danny said.

"I can introduce myself," The flat-headed penguin interrupted. He held out his flipper. "My name is Skipper. And this is my team, Kowalski, Rico and Private."

I only had enough of a mind to shake his cold (cold?) flipper and stammer "T-team?"

"We keep the zoo nice and orderly," a cuter penguin chirped.

Wow. His British accent was even more amazing!

Julien and the Koala were both wrong. These birds were awesome. Although the first penguin's handshake had left a chill in my paw. Hmm. His flipper had felt as cold and as hard as ice. It creeped me out, but I guessed that all penguins' body's were like that.

They were extremely beautiful. Maybe it was their eyes that showed it all. Their eyes were super bright blue.

We all talked a bit more before I left with my dad and lemurs except for Julien. He had stayed behind to argue a little bit more with the penguins. That guy was a jerk.

When we reached the otter habitat again, I flumped down onto my bed, dazed, and thought about my day and so much that I had learned.

The penguins' habitat was the best. Perhaps I was crazy but... I wanted to go back there again.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the next day. A zoo opening day, apparently. There was still that gray, gray sky, never changing. I missed the California sun.

Julien was strutting confidently in front of me inside my habitat, where no one could see him but every visitor could see me, chatting away. "And so I was all like 'Poptarts give you calories'. Then Maurice was like 'Oh, you are totally awesome, King Julien! I'm sorry I ever doubted you!' So I was just like 'Yeah, I know'."

Wow. This was just torture. Why did Julien _have_ to talk? Why couldn't he just smile and nod like normal people? I gave an exasperated sigh. Maybe he would eventually wear himself down.

I had really wanted to go to the penguin's habitat earlier this morning, but as I approached the penguins training on their platform, the flat-headed one, Skipper, saw me and had immediately jumped into the hatch hole. I had gone over to the three other (gorgeous!) penguins and had asked to go inside, but they said that I couldn't. They said that Skipper didn't want me around. What's up with _that_? Yesterday he had been all nice and polite, and now he didn't want me around?

"Hey, Marlene! Guess what?" Julien asked excitedly in that accent that was quickly becoming annoying, interrupting my thoughts.

"What?" I snapped.

"I kicked Mort today!" he said proudly, oblivious to my annoyed tone.

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes.

"He made it all the way to Joey's!" Julien bragged. "You should have seen the hoppity guy's face!"

I wanted to slam my face on the stone in front of me. Not only did he talk too much, he performed child abuse! Er, animal abuse? Either way, I definitely wouldn't leave Julien alone with Mort.

"Are you coming?" Julien called, stopping to glare at me as he started making his way to the front of my habitat. I hadn't moved yet to join him. I hoped that he wouldn't be seen. Animals shouldn't be in different habitats.

"Of course!" I answered, almost tripping on the grass (stupid accident-prone-ness!) as I followed him. "I'm right behind you!"

He scoffed. "First of all, da king is certainly NOT a behind. Second, only da king is right!"

Clenching my fists, I took a step towards him. I was probably going to do something that would knock the crown off his big head. Before I could, however, Julien held his arm out in front of me. "Wait, are you to be smelling that?" he whispered.

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then, taking a deep breath of air, I realized what he had meant. An uber sweet scent tickled my nostrils. Sugary goodness filled my thoughts. It was... cotton candy. A whole cart of it, now parked right opposite my habitat!

I looked around nervously, and hopped on the habitat's brick wall, but there wasn't a human in sight. Should I go over and get some bags of it, and risk getting caught? I hopped out of my habitat and looked around. Julien was still inside, bragging about himself to…himself. I could hear him. He was too self-indulged in himself to even pay attention to others.

So I hopped down onto the walkway. The coast was still clear. The cart was still parked ahead of me, a stopper on the ground so it wouldn't move. It was also right up against the giant, grey elephant's–Burt's– habitat.

As I started to cautiously making my way to the cotton candy stand, Burt whipped around in his habitat, and his trunk suddenly hit the stand very, very hard. The stand fell over and instantly started sliding very quickly across the walk way––straight towards _me_!

It happened too fast for me to do anything, but this is what I saw happen in that millisecond of the near-freak-disaster.

A flash of black and white zoomed right between me and the fast-approaching cotton candy cart. _Skipper_! He held out his flipper towards the cart and it smashed right against it. Instead of continuing to slide us both into the brick wall behind me, it just…stopped at Skipper's hand. There was even a dent in it now from where it collided with his wing.

My heart was racing, my eyes wide, my mind in a flurry. I was pressed against the brick wall, with Skipper and the cart just a millimeter away from my face. In the distance I could hear Burt saying sorry over and over again, and in my periphery, I could see the rest of Skipper's team starting to join him. But my mind wasn't concentrated on any of those things. Instead, my mind was looking straight into Skipper's eyes, breaking through cold ice it saw around it in order to dive into it's deep, deep, beautiful dark blue eyes.

I could've sworn that they were light blue yesterday.

But I couldn't speak. He helped me up, and then the rest of his team crowded around. A lot of the smaller zoo residents started to gather around too, and we all hid under a bench so as to not be seen.

My father and the lemurs had heard the commotion and pushed their way through the crowd to me. "What happened?" Robert demanded, looking worriedly at me.

"A cotton candy cart almost smashed into me," I managed to say. "Then Skipper jumped in–_out of nowhere_–and actually stopped the gigantic speeding cart from injuring me––with his bare flippers." Now that I had said it, what Skipper had done in just a millisecond sounded…uncanny.

Apparently, everyone else was thinking that, too. We all stared at him.

He cleared his throat. "I think you've got a concussion from that accident, there, Marlene. I did not come out of nowhere. I had been near you already, anyways, training a bit with my team. And it was not like the cart had been going very fast. So it took little effort to stop it." He frowned and took one step away from me. "I still think we should check up on you. You could've gotten an injury, like that concussion."

"But–" I protested. I couldn't tell them what I wanted to say, about how fast the cart had been going, how big it was, how Skipper was amazing from keeping it from crushing my bones. But then penguins were already starting to take me back to their HQ to treat on me, and everyone else seemed to agree with Skipper's words, and I couldn't seem to combine all the words I wanted to say in a sentence, so I just stayed silent and let them drag me there.


	5. Chapter 5

Kowalski made me lie down on top of their concrete table. Then he took a few measurements and made a few tests on me to check on my injuries. It was freaky how his flippers felt colder than the instruments he used. They were freezing, like he put his hand in a freezer before my check-up. Well, they did have a fridge in the corner of their lair…

My dad was the only one allowed in the HQ at the moment, with the exceptions being Skipper, who was leaning in a dark corner of he HQ, staring at me, Private, who was smiling at my sympathetically, but his smile did not seem to meet his uncomfortable eyes, Rico, who was providing Kowalski's tools, and of course me and Kowalski. And I was grateful for such a small crowd, for I did not need a bunch of animals staring at me while I had a checkup to see if I was okay. Which of course I was!

"Medically speaking, you're fine," Kowalski said as he finished. He handed his supplies back to Rico who promptly swallowed them all. (Still creeped me out, but I learned that regurgitating was a penguin's natural thing.)

"I told you so," I said happily as I hopped off the table.

"You just have a few bruises," he continued, "and oh yes, you should also not fall asleep for a maximum of 30 minutes just in case you really do have that concussion."

I frowned.

Skipper smirked in his corner. "See, everything's just dandy. Now you can go back to your little habitat and stop getting into accidents all the time." He picked up a coffee mug, but hid the contents with his flipper.

I frowned harder. "Skipper, can I talk to you?...In private?"

He didn't waver at all. "Sure."

So we went up onto their artificial iceberg, and stood in a corner. There weren't any animals or humans in our vicinity, so we were safe. And…the sky was still gray."What's going on?" I demanded.

He took a small sip from his mug. "Wow. Do you always get directly to the point?"

"Answer me!"

Now it was his turn to frown. "I don't like being told what to do."

"Please," I begged. "Something's strange. I don't know what's going on."

"Marlene, I have no idea what you are talking about."

I glared. "Really? Fine. Here's what I'm talking about. You refuse to see me this morning. Yet, later, you come _out of nowhere_ and save me from a giant speeding cart that could have killed me! _With your bare flippers._ And you're not even injured. No, instead you injured the cart. Now explain to me how that is possible!"

He returned my glare with a normal, calm look. I was supposed to be the calm, practical person. _He_ was the crazy one. Yet, in this moment, it felt like the roles were reversed. I didn't like it.

"I once took down a walrus with a wing and a prayer," he finally said. "Oh, and another wing." He showed me his flippers.

I waved them away. "And _how_ did you do that? This doesn't make any sense, Skipper!"

He looked at me stonily. "You know, I _am_ a captain of an elite team of commandos. We can do lots of things normal animals can't. We've been trained to."

"That doesn't explain anything! What you did was _impossible_! Even highly trained animals can't do that."

He looked like he was going to shake my shoulders in frustration. "Marlene! You are blowing things way out of proportion. It was a small, weak cart. It's been around for a while. It slides very slowly. It only took a push to stop it."

"But that doesn't explain–"

"Please, I don't want to hear it. I've had enough of your–"

Suddenly, there was a gigantic explosion from inside. It rattled my bones. "Wha…?"

"Oh, it's probably just Kowalski or Rico. Happens all the time," Skipper said calmly. But his face betrayed him. There was a look of unease. He looked up at the sky.

On instinct, I looked up, too. Oh hey, the sky was finally clearing up! I saw the first few rays of sunshine and wanted to clap in glee. But when I looked back down at Skipper, he wasn't there. Just the rattling of the fish bowl as it closed.

Shocked, I ran towards the fishbowl, not able to believe that he had just ditched me like that. But before I reached it, I tripped on a fish just lying on he platform and fell flat on my face. Of course. After looking around humiliated, I got up again and tried to push the bowl aside. It wouldn't budge. He locked me out!

Okay, _now_ I was seething with anger, so I turned away, and looked down on the fish that had tripped me, wanting to take my fury out on _something_. But I paused before my foot contacted its scales. There seemed to be something wrong with it. I looked closely down at it. It seemed…shriveled up and dry. Like it had flesh, but all the blood had been sucked from it. _Gross_. I wasn't really liking the penguins a lot now.

Before I could do anything else, the fishbowl suddenly opened and I turned around a bit startled, hoping it was one of the penguins coming to apologize. But no, it was only my dad quickly climbing out from there, also looking startled. The bowl closed quickly after him.

"They just kicked me out from there," he said.

Wow. I was just plain upset now, and instead of screaming and complaining it all out, I just went up to him blubbering and laid my furry head on his furry shoulder. Pathetic, I know, but today was just adding up on my misery, minute by minute.

Thankfully Robert accepted that and patted my head. "I know, I know. Everything today has distressed you. Let's go back now."

As we started back to our habitat, he looked up and smiled. "Well, it is finally going to be sunny for once!"

I looked up at the clouds––that weren't there! I gasped as I let the rays of sun kiss my fur. Yes, finally! The sun could finally burn away my gloom! Hopefully...


	6. Chapter 6

Wow. I love the sun. I love it sooooo much. What a great invention, the sun. If it were alive, I would, like, hug it or something. Er, assuming I wouldn't burn into ashes the very moment I touched it... Yeah, I don't think I'd like being ashes. All powdery and whatnot...

A small sigh escaped my lips. If only _all _my dilemmas were like this. Debating whether or not to hug the sun... I mean if my problems were as simple as contemplating that, I'd probably do a jig of some sort. But no... I guess not. Because life, _apparently,_ does not work that way.

Nope. _Apparently, _life is all about watching your fellow neighbors, and constantly attempting to find out what the heck is wrong with them. _Apparently, _life actually wants you to lose all the sanity you've ever had, due to a couple of penguins. _Apparently, _life wants you to have a near-death experience. And _apparently, _life wants you to rant your feelings to a bunch of readers on some random website! Heh... I was kidding about that last one. Like that would ever happen!

I shook my head, trying in vain to clear my thoughts as I basked in the sun near the pond in my habitat. Fuming silently in your head was, undoubtedly, not good for your health. If only there was something to get my mind off of things... something fun, you know. Something exciting...

My eyes widened. Oh. My. Goodness. The slide. The huge, steep, cement slide, right inside my habitat. I can't believe I forgot that! How could I? Curse me and my forgetful-ness!

Making a mental note to intestate myself later, I rushed forward. Determined to make it up the slope as fast as otterly possible, I managed to reach the top in a matter of minutes.

"Huh... neat," I murmured. You could see everything from up here! Bada and Bing, arguing over the last non-mushy banana. Joey, who seemed to be nervously eyeing a small, giggling five-year-old girl (that's concerning).

Choosing to to ignore the not totally sane kangaroo, I turned to look at Burt. Who, at the moment seemed to be talking talking to Roger. Being a couple of habitats away, however, I couldn't hear what they were saying.

I sure was curious though.

Leaning forward, I tried to catch any snippets of their conversation. …. Which didn't help whatsoever.

I flicked my tail slightly in annoyance. Was it even normal to attempt spying on other animals?

Eh, probably not... In fact, I'm surprised that the penguins aren't barging in on me right now...

I groaned softly. Wasn't I trying to_ forget_ about them?

Frowning unhappily, I glanced at the bottom of the slide. '_One time'_ I thought to myself. _'And one time only.' _I took a deep breath and slid forward effortlessly... head first, belly down.

I flew down like a rocket, slowly gaining speed as I went along. Was this even smart? _Everyone_ knew about me being accident-prone. Feeling as if the butterflies in my stomach would soon take over, I tried to remind myself of the deep, crystal clear because of the sun, pool of water awaiting me after the thrilling ride.

"Hello, Otter!" a shrill voice called.

My eyes widened in horror. Oh crud.

There, near the bottom, was Mort, waving happily. Panicking, I dug my blunt claws into the concrete, putting as much distance between me and Mort as I possibly could.

Evidently it was enough. I had managed to stop within three feet of the tiny, unfazed mouse-lemur.

"Hi!" he greeted me again cheerfully.

I let out a sigh of relief. My chocolate-brown eyes turned to Mort. "What were you _thinking_?" I asked, my fists clenched tightly.

Mort cocked his head to one side. "Did I do something wrong?"

I looked up at the sky for patience. "No. You did nothing wrong."

He blinked slowly. "Okay then!"

"Uh... is there a reason why your here?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow.

He nodded once. "Yes."

I waited. "Are you going to tell me?"

Mort's eyes brightened. "Oh, yeah! I remember now! King Julien told me to tell you that he's telling all the animals that he's having a dancy-party to celebrate the sun!"

A dance party? Seriously? Wow, that's like totally 80's. And anyways, I was just so _awkward_ at parties…

I knelt down beside Mort. "Listen, I don't think that I can-"

Almost as if on cue, his eyes dimmed and his tail drooped. "But- but-" Large tears spilled down his cheek.

Great. The guilt trip. "Oh no, Mort. Don't cry!" I said. "If it really means so much to you... I'll come."

He dried his tears with his paw. "R-really?"

I cringed slightly at the hope-filled voice. "You can bet on it."

…...

"I'm such a push-over," I mumbled to the ground.

Darn Mort and his cuteness. If only he'd been old and grouchy; then I might have had a chance! But no, he had to be all cute and innocent... See? Life likes him!

After letting out a small huff of jealousy, I continued my route to Julien's. Being as how the lemur and otter habitats were right next to each other, it didn't take very long for me to reach the party.

Bright lights were dancing around all over the place. I felt my eyes widen. The habitat was amazing! Animals were talking together aimlessly, exchanging gossip and jokes. Covered from corner to corner in the habitat were streamers, balloons, and... a random stuffed animal. Well okay then...

"Marlene! Over here!" Maurice called.

I smiled. "Hey! What's up?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. You know, just the whole 'obey your king or perish' lifestyle."

I gave him a startled look. "What?"

Maurice chuckled. "Nah, don't worry. I'm just messing with ya."

"Oh, uh... funny!" I said, forcing a couple of laughs.

Maurice rolled his eyes. "Come on, Marlene. I know you don't think it's funny."

I blushed. "Sorry..."

Seeming amused, he pat me on the back. "It's all right. I won't cry too _hard_."

Before I could even get my reply out, Mort unexpectedly tugged at my paw. He stood on tip-toe, trying as best as he could to reach my ear. "King Julien says it is storytime!" he whispered, eyes brimming with excitement.

"Huh?" I asked, unsure if I had heard right.

"Storytime!" Mort repeated for me.

My confused gaze flickered to Maurice. "Did I just hear right?"

"Yep," came his simple response.

"At this kind of party? With all this gunk lying around?" Personally, I thought it was a rather crazy idea. Storytelling usually didn't take part in this type of atmosphere. I mean, when I think of that sort of thing, I pair it up with campfires.

"How is evra-body doin'?" Julien queried as he made his way towards us. Draping his arm casually across my shoulder, he gave a long, heavy yawn. "All-righty then... let's get this over with. Quite of the frankly, de King is tired and wishes for sleepy-time."

I pushed his arm away, unimpressed at his lack of social manners. "Can't you just end the party and go to bed?" I wondered aloud.

Julien gasped loudly. Mort watched with his tail curled protectively around himself. Maurice, however, simply rolled his eyes.

Moving so that only a few feet or so were between us, Julien began pointing upwards. "Because," he said. "The Sky Spirits told me that we have to... or be destroyed."

I blinked in surprise. Sure didn't see that one coming. "Uhh..."

Julien stood there for a minute, his head raised defiantly. He nodded to Maurice. "Eh, well, go explain to Marlene. As for our story spreading, Mort, you can tell Joey, Roy, Bada, and Bing about that. Meanwhile, I'll go talk to that nice-looking bunch of chameleons..."

Unaware of possible danger, Mort smiled and began skipping away. Throwing me an almost smug glance, Julien turned in the opposite direction.

I watched the two lemurs go off before spinning around to face Maurice. "So... care to explain?"

Maurice tore his attention from the floor. His expression held rather sheepish features, and not for the first time, I felt bad for the guy. It's gotta be hard to live with a slightly deranged lemur king.

Avoiding eye-contact, Maurice began to explain. "Well... about the whole Sky Spirits thing... It's an obsession of his. Julien theorizes that there are, er, spirits in the sky. According to him, these guys control everything around us."

My confused expression didn't falter.

Maurice closed his eyes. "The other day, I was making a smoothie for Julien. Guava – strawberry, to be exact. With Julien pestering Danny for a restraining order regarding Mort, everything was as it should have been."

He shook his head regretfully. "That changed quickly, of course. Before you could say 'kumquat', a gust of wind brought a sheet of paper flying to Julien's face. After Danny and I managed to get him calmed down, Julien took the paper to the chimps in order to deceiver it." Maurice gave a faint grin. "And do you know what it said?"

I shook my head. Chuckling slightly, Maurice continued on. "It said 'D-STROY READS ALOUD TO HOMELESS CHILDREN'."

"Huh?" I spluttered.

He frowned. "You know, D-Stroy? That rapper dude?"

I shook my head in confusion for the second time. "Nope. Never heard of him."

Maurice opened his mouth. But before he could even utter a word, Mort came dashing over. "King Julien is ready to tell de story!" he yelled.

Smirking, Maurice and I followed the overly energetic mouse-lemur to clustered group of animals.

Almost immediately, I recognized tons of familiar faces. Mason, Phil, Pinky, Roger, Burt... all there. My eyes quickly scanned the crowd, but it was no use. Skipper and the penguins weren't here.

Feeling disappointment swell inside, I went to go sit next to Stacey and Becky. They could be overly hyper at times, but they weren't too crazy.

"Hey, Marlene!" Becky chirped.

I gave a small wave. "Hey."

"Come join the fun!" Stacey said. She patted the ground beside her, offering what I saw as a pretty decent spot. I plopped on down, watching as Julien walked into the center of a roughly shaped circle of animals and started his 'story'.

"Across de waters is a maaagical land. With maaaagical beings... called lemurs. Now, these 'lemurs' were totally awesome. They sang, danced, and even had Taco-Thursdays!"

I smiled. He sure had creativity, I'll give him that.

"Not only were these lemurs amazing... they were special!"

_Try not to laugh. Try not to laugh._

Julien went on, oblivious of my stifled chortles. "Of course, these guys HAD to have a king! So who better to step up to the position than my Great-Grandpapa?"

Mort raised his hand.

"NO ONE!" Julien snapped.

Immediately, Mort's hand flew down.

Julien stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So, uh, anyway... My Great-Grandpa was de bomb. He always made sure that no matter what, royalty came first. Under his rule, we were almost destroyed numerous times! But luckily, we survived!"

Becky fidgeted. "Ugh, this has to be one of the most boring stories, ever!" she whispered to me and Stacey.

Murmuring agreement, I kept my attention towards Julien. Where on Earth was he going with this?

I didn't have to wait long to find out. Posing dramatically, Julien continued his tale. "Here we defenseless lemurs were, being as epic as lemurs could possibly go... when _they_ arrived."

I leaned forward. "They? Who's they?"

Julien's yellow eyes gleamed in the soft sunlight. "The cold ones."

Maurice opened his mouth to add something. Unfortunately, Julien was quick to shush him. "No, Maurice," he said. "I do not _care _if they were warm-blooded!"

"Oh, jus' finish the story already!" Joey said crossly.

"Well, _gosh_! I was getting to that!" Julien replied, wrinkling his nose. "As I was saying... strangers. Not being of the good category."

Beside me, Stacey crossed her arms. "DUH! Aren't all strangers bad? Hence the term 'Stranger Danger'?"

"Uh... maybe?" he said slowly, the question bouncing about his head.

Julien suddenly let loose a scowl. "Aww, man! Was that yet another distraction?"

Becky and Stacey touched knuckles, spouts of laughter rising from them both.

"Okay, can you just let me finish?" Julien erupted.

His fists were clenched tightly... and for a second there, I thought he'd go all crazy and throw Mort at the crowd. He glared at Stacey, his annoyance coming out in waves.

He sighed. "You know what? I am simply going to say it. 'Cause if I don't, I'm gonna be interrupted."

He paused, waiting for sounds of protest. None came.

"These strangers… were vampires."

I'm swear if a streak of lightening in the clear sky had lit up behind him...

* * *

><p><strong>Eppy: Well, we started this author conversation thingy because it seems FUN.<strong>

**Ducky: And we all know that fun things are either illegal, fattening, or bad. BUT NOT THIS! MWAHAHA!**

**Eppy: Ha. Very funny. And it's also to express our...THOUGHTS. For this collab! Which I think kicks all the other fanfic's butts right now, I mean, it's an actual story and not a truth or dare or OC/self-insert fic. Ah, well, I shall stop demoting fanfictions. ONTO THE CONVERSATION!**

**Ducky: Yeah... I apologize if she's hurt your feelings. As you can probably tell, drinking coffee is her favorite past-time. So, anyway, I do think this story is going along pretty well! I mean, we actually have reviews! How cool is that?**

**Eppy: Speaking of reviews, I demand you review this chapter right now! Or else...**

**Ducky: Or else we shall release rabid fat kids upon you!**

**Eppy: Thank you, Ducky, for completing my ridiculously empty threat. Well, bye for now! EppogirlXD out...**


	7. Chapter 7

"So…that was a fairly interesting story," I commented, staring up at the still cloudless sky, watching the sun set. It had been an eventful day. "How those tribal lemurs defeated the vampires and all…"

After story time, Julien had gone around to chat with other animals present at the party and I couldn't get him to myself until 30 minutes later. We now sat at the lemur's little bar, drinking from our coconuts and raising our voices to hear each other over the music.

"Oh, it is not just a story," he said in what I couldn't be sure was a serious voice.

I blinked. "Oh…?" But he didn't answer. I decided to change the subject, tilting my stool back and forth. "It looks like the penguins never made it to your party…" Not that I cared whether they came or not, of course. I didn't care at all. Well, not much. Just a little bit. Or a big bit. Or a whole lot. Okay, I completely cared that they didn't come to Julien's party, all right? But that didn't mean anything. It's just that they act weird, and it seemed like they were the only zoo animals that didn't make it, so I could only imagine what they could be up to and why they didn't come.

"Oh, they never come," Julien said simply. "I never invite them."

I sipped at the coconut in my hands, listening intently. It wasn't long before I ran out of the sweet concoction.

"The lemurs and penguins do not like each other," he straight-out told me. "And anywho, the lead penguin is not fond of my parties and so does not allow the others to come. Even if they did come, their bloody fishy smell would just stink up the whole party! Eek!" He pinched his nose in an exaggerated manner.

I couldn't tell whether he meant it as a curse word when he said 'bloody', or whether he meant actual blood.

Julien chatted on, oblivious of my thoughts. "So I'm glad they do not come, and glad they do not wish to come, as all my parties are be better off without them. In fact, maybe the _zoo_ would be better off without them!"

I frowned, not sure whether I agreed with his statement or not. Either way, I felt like defending the penguins. "Well, they _are_a little bit rude and strange," I started. "But they watch over and protect the zoo from harm and…"

"_No one_ likes them!"

He was practically yelling into my face by now, and I leaned backwards feeling startled. Apparently, I leaned too far back, because the next thing I know, my stool had toppled over backwards. Which of course, left me sprawled out on the ground. Why was I always such a derp?

Animals rushed over to help but I stayed silent, even when they asked me if I was okay. I was too busy reflecting upon what Julien had told me, contemplating it, wondering how much was true.

I was still quiet even after I was right side up again. As I watched the sun completely disappear below the skyscrapers, I couldn't help but sigh.

Sunny, friendly California sure was different from New York City.

* * *

><p>The next day was yet another bright and sunny one. It was also boringly normal. I found myself wishing for the first few crazy days when I arrived at the zoo, but Julien had been working on his choreography dance moves and the penguins weren't even out and about. I always counted on them to turn my day upside down... but not today.<p>

Besides, I really shouldn't have been surprised at the penguins not showing up. They stayed in their habitat all day, then came slinking out into the night. And it's not like I missed them... I just wished they'd come visit once in a while!

The day after that, I was going over to the badger habitat for a sleepover. I grabbed the things necessary for survival and ran over there after the zoo had closed.

"Ready for a super fun slumber party, cousin?" Becky squealed once I'd arrived and deposited my things in their cave.

"Super _duper_ fun slumber party!" Stacy squealed.

"Super _duper uber_ fun!" They cheered together.

"Yes!" I smiled. These badgers could be really crazy and girly, but also a whole ton of awesome. "That sounds…super!"

"Okay, what should we do first?" Stacy asked, tapping her paws together.

"I don't know, you decide!" Becky said, holding Stacy's paws so they wouldn't tap.

"No, _you_ decide!"

"Why don't we let Marlene decide?"

"Hey, where _is _Marlene?"

"Hiya!" I popped up from behind them and swatted a blue pillow in both their faces.

"_Pillow-fight!_" They both yelled, and each grabbed a couple of pillows.

After our fight of pillows, we beaded random things with holes in them on string and gave our weird necklaces to each other, then painted our paw-nails. It was only when we were fooling around with their karaoke machine when Stacy got an idea.

"Ooh, Marlene! I've seen your guitar. Can you play?" She asked.

"My _Spanish_ guitar, you mean? Well, yeah, I can play it a bit, but not very much," I replied, shrugging.

"OMG you should _totally_ play for us!" Becky squealed. I saw those words coming a mile away.

"Oh, fine," I sighed. "But I didn't bring it here. It's back in my habitat––"

"Then go get it from your habitat!" Becky urged.

"Okay! Okay, I'll go," I said, starting to leave the cave. The two started to follow me. "You guys don't have to come. I'm sure I can make it there and back on my own."

"Okay, if you say so cousin," Stacy said.

"I say so!" I called back as I hopped over the brick wall. It was already dark outside, and a breeze whipped through my fur. I wrapped my arms around myself as I swiftly walked back to my home, looking left and right as the darkness filled me up with paranoia, making it feel like there were scary creatures of the night ready to pounce out of the shadows and attack me at any moment.

I was so caught up in swiveling my head around, looking for monsters hiding around the corner, that it completely startled me when I walked right into something hard and solid and cold. I jumped back in surprise as panic zapped through me, but then took a closer look. _Oh phew_. It was only my habitat's surrounding brick wall. "Haha, very scary, Marlene," I said to myself.

Inside the cave, I found my father already sleeping on his bed, a goofy smile on his face. I grinned and kissed him on the cheek. He mumbled something in his sleep. Then I searched around for my Spanish guitar in the dark, not wanting to disturb him by turning on the light. Once I found my guitar, I carefully strapped it behind my back, and started to head out of the cave, but stopped at the entrance. To my side, there was a jar about the size of my paw filled with glitter. I suddenly had an idea for another fun thing that me and the badgers could do at the sleepover: paste glitter onto our nails and necklaces. So I picked that jar up too and left my habitat.

Outside, the cold darkness enveloped me again. I walked slowly at first, but started to get nervous when I heard a rustling in a nearby bush. To make my suddenly active imagination quiet down, I tried to assure myself that whatever was rustling closer and closer had to be just as harmless at the brick wall I had smacked into.

Then, in my peripheral vision, I noticed a figure slowly climb out of the rustling bush. I almost stopped walking in shock. This figure was one of the horrible Vesuvius twins! What was he doing at the zoo at this time of night? This twin must have snuck in or hid in the zoo when it had closed, because no zoo keeper would allow anyone to stay overnight. But where was the other twin?

I started to walk briskly to my destination, guitar thumping against my back, looking straight ahead, trying to ignore him. If I ignored him, maybe the twin wouldn't notice me, or if he did, he would dismiss me as a harmless zoo animal and walk away. So I tried to keep myself calm and casual, like I hadn't seen him emerge from the bushes.

It didn't work.

I realized this when I heard the soft pattering of feet trying to keep up but stay behind me, yet attempting to be as quiet as possible while doing so. I could imagine the sneer on his face while he did this, preparing to attack and torment me. Why did I think that being calm and casual would work? It never does! I was still an otter with a guitar on her back and a jar of glitter in her paw. Very conspicuous, even in just the dim glow of zoo lights. Still, I tried to stay serene on the outside even though I was freaking out on the inside. It's not every day you have a stalking kid on your tail. Hopefully I would make it back to the badger habitat before he tried to do something to me. I could probably get back…

Spoke too soon. My question of where the other twin was was suddenly answered. As I rounded a brick corner, the second vicious twin was there to meet me, his hands curled like claws. They both started to cackle as they looked at me like I was a piece of meat. I looked back and forth between them. Darn it. I would never make it back now, even though I could see the badger's habitat from here, near the zoo offices. The Vesuvius twins were gonna to torture me, I was sure of it.

But of course, I wasn't just going to act like a helpless damsel and just _let them_ do whatever they wanted to do with me. As they both sprang at me at the same time, I pounced away, feeling the adrenaline starting to flow. They both reached for me again, and I swatted one hand away. Another hand snatched me up right after, before I had time to smack it away too. "Leave me alone!" I yelled, but I knew all they heard was the sounds an otter made. Now they had me in their grasp, or at least one of them did. I was feeling very desperate by now, and tried to squiggle out of the twin's grip. My jar of glitter had dropped and spilled on the ground, but at least I still had a hold on my Spanish guitar.

"Look at the expression on its face!" The one holding me snickered. I guessed I must've looked terrified. "What should we do with it?"

"Throw it to me." The other ordered. "I wanna squeeze it."

Oh snap. I whirled through the air as the first twin obeyed, yelling nonsense on the way. This was it. I closed my eyes. I was going to be squeezed to death, as it seemed. My life was over. My eyeballs would pop out of my head, my internals gone external. Say goodbye to my family and friends –

I never made it into the other twin's hand.

Because suddenly, my flight direction knocked off course and I was flying off to the side instead of straight ahead, with something thin and cold wrapped around my waist. I opened my eyes to see what had happened. Guess who had jumped out of nowhere to push me away from the twins? "_Skipper_?" I said as we bounced off a zoo office window with a loud _thump_ and landed on the ground below.

He said nothing and put his flipper to his beak. "_Shhh!_" So I remained silent as several events started taking place before me.

The loud thump on the zoo window had attracted Alice, who was in the office, to open it and look outside. "Hey, who's out there?" She yelled. Then she spotted the Vesuvius twins, frozen in shock. "You kids? What are you still doing here?"

She stormed out of the office and grabbed the twins by their shirts, dragging them into the office. Skipper and I hid in the shadows. "I'm gonna call your parents! Your stupid lawyers can't get you out of sneaking into the zoo this time! Ha!" The door slammed loudly behind her.

The zoo night was silent again. No more hiding humans or monsters, just me and –

"Did you seriously need me to get you out of trouble _again_?" Skipper exclaimed.

I pouted, searching for bruises. I had several. Ouch. "I could have taken care of myself just fine without your help, thank you very much." I gave him one final glance before picking up my glitter jar and walking to the badger habitat. Again.

"Is that all you have to say?" He was suddenly walking right beside me, his blue eyes glittering.

"No. It is not," I said, even though I didn't feel like talking to him anymore. I narrowed my eyes. "I want to ask how the heck you knew where I was so fast, and how you got to where I was so fast?"

"Well, it's a small zoo, and I was on recon duty," he said. "I happened to spot trouble with you and the Vesuvius twins, so I came in to help. That's what us penguins do."

Good answers. Yet it still felt suspicious… I groaned.

He suddenly became concerned. "You okay? That must have been a frightening experience, as all encounters with the Vesuvius family usually are."

I didn't say anything, but he had caught my eye and we looked at each other for a second too long. I looked away and blushed.

We neared the badger habitat where the two sisters started looking back and forth between us in curiosity as they sat on their brick wall.

"Hey, what happened?" Stacy asked, jumping over the wall with Becky.

"Some things happened on my way back, and Skipper, er, saved me," I said.

"Care to tell us?" Becky asked excitedly.

"Um…"

"Sorry girls, but I'm walking Marlene home now. She's been through a lot and I'm sure she doesn't feel like tell you two what happened."

I looked at Skipper in surprise and annoyance. "Hey, I'm fine," I said.

"Yeah, she seems fine," Stacy said, taking the glitter jar from me.

But Skipper was firm. "No, you're coming with me." He started to head out with me in tow. I tried to resist but then realized that what he'd said was true. I didn't want to tell the badgers what had happened, and feeling weak, I wanted to end the sleepover and go home. So I told the badgers to keep the glitter and walked with Skipper all the way back to the otter habitat, my Spanish guitar softly thudding against my back, the rhythm making me sleepy and happy at the same time.

* * *

><p><strong>Ducky: And that, fellow readers, is why you never walk home alone without a sharp object.<strong>

**Eppy: Or pepper spray. Though that may be too violent... You saw what we did though, right?**

**Ducky: You... you HAVE been paying attention, right?**

**Eppy: BECAUSE. That part where Marlene gets jumped by the Vesuvius twins is the same as that part in the Twilight book when, um...**

**Ducky: Where, uh, the mean people are stalking Bella and... Go ask your parents.**

**Eppy: Yeah. As people who have read Twilight might have seen, we've taken scenes from the book and have PoMified them the best we can.**

**Ducky: Which has actually gone pretty well so far!**

**Eppy: We will be doing the whole fanfic and possibly series like that. Also, some of you have said in your reviews that although you have never read Twilight, you are enjoying this fanfic. Well, I tell you, you should go read Twilight! It is ten times better than this story where we don't even know where we're going with...**

**Ducky: Aw, who cares? This is the era of vampires, Eppy! As long as you have a story containing vampires and/or werewolves, you're set for life! According to Stephenie Meyer, anyway...**

**Eppy: *rolls eyes* Just sayin. It's been a while since I read the Twilight series... well, I hope you guys review!**

**Ducky: Yeah! Otherwise you'd hurt our feelings... Well, happy new year to all, and to all a good night! Afternoon... whatever...**


	8. Chapter 8

Being as how I was nearly killed by two adolescent twin boys, I was perfectly content not speaking on the walk back to my habitat. For one reason or another, near-death experiences often left me non-talkative. Go figure, huh? Though I have to say, the silence was almost weird. One minute there's screaming all around you. The next, nothing.

I snuck a glance at Skipper. His ever unamused expression hadn't changed the slightest since we left the badger habitat. With narrowed eyes and a frowning beak, he showed all the signs of a ticked-off penguin.

He was mad at me... I just didn't understand why. Lowering my eyes, I focused my attention to the ground. I sure hope he didn't blame _me _for the whole thing. After all, I came from a long line of accident-prone otters.

We continued walking. Our average silence was slowly turning into an awkward silence. Dangit, I hate it when that happens!

"...Skipper?" I asked tentatively.

"What?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the path ahead of him.

"Have you ever heard of Spanish guitars?"

"Wait... _What?_" he said incredulously, pausing a moment to give me a WTH look.

I shrugged. "Well sorry for trying to make conversation."

"Marlene, are you sure you haven't recently hit your head on any hard objects?" Skipper asked.

I folded my arms across my chest and raised my eyebrows. Had he seriously forgotten? "Excuse me?"

He hurriedly motioned his flipper for me to calm down. "Never mind," he muttered. "It was just a joke. Why do you always have to take things so seriously?"

_Me? _I thought, _you're the one who's always so dark and sullen! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were emo or something! _The response was on the tip of my tongue, but I refrained, not wanting to look rude or look immature, which I bet was how Skipper always saw me.

I looked at the full moon climbing higher and higher into the night sky. "You know what I think?" I said to him. "I think-" A loud gurgling sound interrupted my sentence. It wasn't until Skipper actually smiled when I realize the sound came from my very own stomach.

"Hungry?" Skipper inquired, arching his eyebrow.

My stomach gurgled again, causing me to hang my head in shame. "A bit," I confessed. Not like I could lie if I wanted to.

Skipper then nodded a look of triumph written across his face. "Good. I have an idea." And instead of continuing the walk towards the otter habitat, we suddenly switched direction, heading somewhere new.

I let my legs dangle over one of the brick walls that surrounded the zoo. Though I nibbled daintily at the soft pretzel in my paws, I couldn't wait for the moment when Skipper turned away so I could chomp at it as ravenously as I possibly could.

"So... how's it taste?" Skipper said after a while.

"Great!" I said, swallowing a biteful. I wasn't feeling very tired anymore. "It's got the right amount of pretzel and salt. They balance each other out perfectly."

Skipper nodded. "Ah, yes. It's an old family secret recipe," he announced proudly, puffing out his chest.

"But you got it from this human pretzel stand." I said, pointing at said stand.

"Well, not everyone's perfect," he mumbled. His bright, oceanic blue eyes bore into mine, and I blushed, then look away. Every time he looked at me... I just felt as though he could see every crack and crevice into my soul. Like he can tell all of my deepest secrets with just one glance at me. It was almost as though I was holding a card, but regardless of how hard I tried, I couldn't keep Skipper from announcing which one I had. Like a magician in a card game. Despite whatever odds, he always knew what was going on and where. My eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Come to think of it, how _did_ he know about the Vesuvius twins attacking me? How would he have found out so fast when he was on the other side of the zoo? The thought chilled me for some reason. Was it even human (sorry, penguin) to reach where I was from such a long distance?

Beside me, Skipper sat motionless, not bothering to continue a conversation any more. In fact, he looked kind of content. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to stomp any and all serenity into the very ground.

"Alright, Skipper. We need to talk. Again."

He frowned, somehow not surprising me. "I take it you won't take 'no' for an answer?"

The pretzel paper crinkled roughly as I molded it into a sphere-like shape._ Here I go_, I thought. I readied myself to release a bombard of questions. As I did so, Skipper calmly looked off into the distance, unaware of the instigation soon to be unleashed. I took a breath.

"Are you a superhero?" I blurted, unable to stop the words from leaving my mouth.

Skipper chuckled slightly. "No."

I flushed, embarrassed I chose that one to ask first. "Ignore that," I mumbled. I stroked my chin and tried to think of a better question.

Suddenly, I had it. Granted, Skipper probably wouldn't appreciate it very much; but it was something I had to ask. "Remember that day you saved me from that rolling cart?" I told him quietly. "Well, when I stepped out of your base, there was this... fish." I shuddered slightly at the memory of the animal - its cloudy eyes gazing upon nothingness, its mouth open ajar as though it were gasping for breath. "The thing is," I continued. "It didn't look like a normal dead fish. It looked like all the insides were somehow already dug out without opening it up. It was so thin and limp. And the scales were so weird - almost like someone coated it in flour. "

Skipper made a face as though annoyed with something, but the expression vanished before I could properly tell what emotion it was. "Oh, that." he said, appearing casual enough. "It's some new kind of fish Alice is trying out. My guess is that it's much cheaper than our regular brand. It would certainly explain that weird taste." he shrugged, dismissing the thought of discussion.

I hesitated. It seemed hard to believe that such an ugly fish could possibly be natural. From the looks of it, it had appeared as though there wasn't a single drop of blood inside it. "But-"

"Next," Skipper interrupted.

I glowered at him, yet he somehow failed to notice. "Okay," I said slowly. "I got one. How do you always know when I'm in trouble? We could be a million, kajillian miles apart from each other, and you'd still be able to tell if I got a paper cut!"

"I have... connections," he said. His last word was pronounced carefully, as though he thought he would slip and mess up. "As soon as someone hears or sees something of importance, I'm the first to know about it."

Oh, right. The whole watchful, commando thing. "Fine, whatever. But that still doesn't explain how you saved me - or how you even get there so fast," I pointed out.

There was a pregnant pause before he answered me. "Vitamins." he declared. "Lots and lots of vitamins."

My tail twitched in annoyance. "Riiiight," I muttered. Somehow, I doubted he was telling the truth. "What about your eyes?" I challenged. "You seem less cranky when they're bright like that."

I peered at him. What was once the open, non-caring blue eyes he had a second ago appeared to harden under the moon's shallow light. Standing up, he brushed off specks of dirt from his chest. "Oh, gee. Look at the time," he said. "I told the team I'd be back by midnight."

I opened my mouth to inform him that midnight was still a while off - but the twelve clangs of the clock tower told me otherwise.

I stood up, the wad of pretzel paper that I had forgotten about falling to the ground. "Wait!"

Skipper had his feet placed on the tip of the wall's ledge, readying himself to leap down. "What?" he snapped.

"Don't be mad at me," I pleaded.

He shook his head, though he didn't move from his perch. "I'm sorry, Marlene. But I still have to go; my team's waiting for me."

"Can't you just let them wait for a few more minutes?" I asked. "You haven't answered all of my questions!"

He sighed. "Don't get into trouble, Marlene." With that sentence of wisdom, he jumped into the air, landing gracefully onto the pavement below. Silently, I watched as he made his way towards his habitat - his figure soon lost in the darkness of the night.

Overhead, the moon clung to the sky. As I watched, swarming gray clouds drifted across the gleaming white surface- temporarily blocking its light from the citizens below. Oh, how I could relate...

**Ducky: Poor Marlene! Gawd, Skipper, have a heart why dontcha?**

**Eppy: Welp, it's for both of their sakes, right? *actually doesn't really know how to respond to Ducky's comment***

**Ducky: Uh... maybe. *watches bug fly around the room***

**Eppy: Anyways... I wish one day I can debate rationally about Twilight with someone (other than Ducky) who has not already been biased... Oh yes! Please review!**

**Ducky: It's a good book (/movie) and all... I just wish people wouldn't get so worked up about it! Some of my friends told me they CRIED in New Moon. (No offense to those who did)**

**Eppy: ... Yup. Annnndd review.**


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